Hindraf: IGP inaction over Muslim convert fugitive irresponsible

Hindraf chairman Waythamoorthy wants IGP Khalid Abu Bakar to apologise to Indira Gandhi for his failure to apprehend her ex-husband.

KUALA LUMPUR: Hindraf chairman P Waythamoorthy has called for Inspector-General of Police Khalid Abu Bakar to be responsible and respect the law and constitution of the country.

Waytha, a human rights advocate formerly in the Cabinet and Senate, disclosed that he would be writing to the home minister soon on Khalid’s “irresponsible conduct” pertaining to the case of Indira Gandhi and her former husband, Muhammad Ridzuan Abdullah, a Muslim convert who is a fugitive from the law.

“Khalid should stop blaming the public and instead accept the blame and publicly apologise to Indira Gandhi for his failure to nab her former husband, who is still at large,” Waytha said in a statement released today.

He was responding to comments by Khalid in a press conference yesterday, where the IGP said police are doing all they can to track Ridzuan who fled with his daughter despite a court order to surrender the child to his ex-wife.

“Muhammad Ridzuan Abdullah could have been easily caught if there was not this much publicity on his warrant of arrest,” Khalid had told reporters.

Waytha said the IGP has a lot of questions to answer, especially since he had previously said police were “monitoring” Ridzuan.

“Is he now saying Ridzuan was so good he can escape the police monitoring?

“Also, at the Federal Court, Ridzuan’s counsel admitted his client was in contact with a number of counsels. Has the IGP interviewed them?” Waytha said.

He added that is why Hindraf holds the IGP responsible for the difficulty in arresting Ridzuan, who went missing after the Federal Court sanctioned the order for his arrest.

“The IGP appears to have conveniently forgotten that it was his inaction on the Ipoh High Court order in 2010 that sent Ridzuan into hiding,” the Hindraf chief said.

The IGP had previously admitted he did not act on the court order because there was another order issued by the shariah court in 2009 which gave custody of Indira’s children to Ridzuan.

Khalid had said he was caught between the conflicting jurisdictions of the civil and shariah courts that had made opposing child custody orders.

“He even came out with his own suggestion that children in this situation should be placed in welfare homes. This is an abuse of the powers vested in him,” Waytha said.

On April 29 this year, the Federal Court ordered the IGP to arrest Ridzuan for contempt of court over his refusal to hand custody of his youngest daughter to her mother.

However, on June 25 this year, Khalid said he would not arrest Ridzuan but only monitor him.

“Khalid is apparently unsure of the law,” Waytha said, calling out the IGP for taking such an irresponsible approach, firstly, by being ignorant of the law, and secondly, by defying the High Court order.

“This mother has been denied the right to love and care for her daughter. The young girl was snatched away from her mother at the age of 11 months.

“He’s supposed to respect court orders and not form his own personal opinion. This is probably the first case in the country where an IGP was confused over a court order,” Waytha said.